Chicama Run Family Farm

A lot of people have been asking me what I am serving the kids for lunch - especially with 5 kids I am packing for - then I have added Joe into the mix (mainly because he didn't think I could pack a full lunch in one of those boxes)

Today:

2 kids got: leftover chicken thighs (cut off the bone), rice crackers, lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, cherry tomatoes, jelly dessert

2 kids got: ham/cheese roll up, rice crackers, jelly dessert - then 1 got lettuce, cucumbers, carrots (the other one is taking medicine which affects the appetite so doesn't get a full box)

1 kid got: peanut better & honey, salad with cucumbers & carrots, rice crackers & the jelly dessert

Joe got - chicken thigh, salad, goldfish, pineapple

Next week I am hoping to get a little more creative.  I plan on making stuff this weekend which I can add in - such as meatballs, soba noodles (these are like ramen noodles but better - they are 100% buckwheat), and whatever else I can come up with depending on what is at the market this week.  I saw some super easy recipes to add in (such as pickled cucumbers & cabbage - where you just and salt and massage it, let it sit, drain it out and that's it!)

It takes me an hour to get all the lunches done - once I have a plan.  Just Bento has a bento box planner I plan on using this week.  It's a free download (http://justbento.com/weekly-meal-planner-with-bento-lunch) and I think it will work for me.  I have been doing well with my weekly meal planner for dinners and this will help me for lunches.

For things like salad - I grabbed those big boxes from Costco of the spring mix and 1 of baby spinach.  That way I see it and I have no excuse not to give them each some salad.  If you "mush" the salad in the box - it does spring back up by lunch time!

I also plan on making some wraps ahead of time.  Yes, I want to sleep an extra 15 minutes!!

Yesterday I spent at least an hour wandering around the Global Food Market in Ashburn.  I got lost, couldn't find things - yet had a lot of fun!  I did eventually find the things I was looking for (all except 1).  I checked everything though because a lot of items have MSG added - and I was working on avoiding that if I could.  I was able to find the rice seasonings I wanted (MSG free), a soup base for a dipping sauce, even some things I didn't plan - such as these meat filled dough creations where you steam them... they sounded good!

The hardest thing right now is making sure I take care of everyone - everyone is different.  I have a couple of kids who aren't eating a ton right now, 1 that is STARVING, 1 who would probably rather eat the school lunches, and 1 who is just excited to have the cute box :)  Funny thing is that I pack them all up nice and neat, then they all come out and start going through them to see what they got!

I'll continue this some and hopefully will take some pictures if I remember to bring my phone/camera out that early in the morning.